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Seven stories we’re watching in Canada

RCMP on scene of the house where the bodies of two brothers were found after a shooting Friday in La Loche. (Photograph by Chris Bolin)

Seven stories in the news today, Jan. 25:

YOUTH ACCUSED IN LA LOCHE TO APPEAR IN COURT

A 17-year-old facing a string of charges including first degree murder is due to appear in a Saskatchewan court today. Police allege the teen shot two teenaged boys in a home in La Loche then stormed a school killing two staff members and wounding seven other people. Premier Brad Wall and federal cabinet minister Ralph Goodale met with community leaders Sunday to talk about helping the tiny northern community cope with their ordeal.

SEVEN HOSPITALIZED AFTER PLANE TURBULENCE

It was a terrifying ride for the 203 people aboard an American Airlines jet that had to make an emergency landing in St. John’s after hitting severe turbulence on a flight from Miami to Milan. Passenger Jordan Case of Plano, Texas, said he thought the plane was going to crash when it dropped suddenly and then rolled to one side. He said people were screaming and crying as flight attendants scrambled to help others who were bounced around the plane. The jet landed safely, but seven injured people were taken to hospital.

TRIAL BEGINS TODAY OF MAN ACCUSED OF POSTING MAGNOTTA VIDEO

An Edmonton website owner accused of posting a video showing Luka Magnotta dismembering a Chinese university student goes on trial today. Mark Marek has pleaded not guilty to a charge of publishing obscene material. Police allege Magnotta sent Marek the video and Marek posted it knowing it was a real killing. Magnotta was convicted in 2014 of first degree murder and is serving a life prison sentence. He admitted to killing and dismembering university student Jun Lin and mailing body parts to political offices and Ottawa and schools in Vancouver.

ADVOCATES AWAIT RELEASE OF FIRST NATIONS WELFARE RULING

Nine long years after she first challenged the federal government, First Nations child welfare advocate Cindy Blackstock is awaiting a ruling from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal that will determine whether Canada has discriminated against children on reserves. Blackstock heads The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, which filed the complaint with the Assembly of First Nations in 2007. It argued that Ottawa failed to provide First Nations children with the same level of welfare services available to other Canadians.

PROBE INTO ALBERTA PIPELINE RUPTURE IS BEHIND

The Alberta Energy Regulator is still trying to find out what caused a pipeline break at Nexen ULC’s Long Lake Oilsands project last summer. Five million litres of bitumen, sand and water spilled southeast of Fort McMurray. Documents obtained by The Canadian Press say the regulator had hoped to identify the cause of the spill by last October. A spokesman for the regulator wouldn’t comment on the investigation because it’s still ongoing.

LIBERAL MP ISN’T CHANGING HIS TUNE ON NATIONAL ANTHEM

A Liberal MP is trying once again to change the English lyrics to O Canada to make them more gender neutral. Mauril Belanger, who suffers from Lou Gehrig’s disease, is trying to end the national anthem’s inference that patriotism is something felt exclusively by men. He says he plans to bring in a private member’s bill this winter that would change the second line of the anthem from true patriot love “in all thy sons command” to “in all of us command.”

SAGGING LOONIE GREAT NEWS FOR TOURISM INDUSTRY

While many Canadians agonize over the 70 cent U.S. loonie, the country’s hospitality industry is enjoying the ride. The Hotel Association of Greater Montreal says the battered buck is luring lots of Americans and their greenbacks to the Great White North. Montreal-area hotels reported a nine per cent increase in revenue in December over the previous year. And an agency that tracks hotel stays in ski resorts north of Vancouver says November and December were the busiest ever for those months.

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